U.S., Russia, and Ukraine Trilateral Talks Begin

Welcome to the Daily News Brief, CFR’s flagship morning newsletter summarizing the top global news and analysis of the day. 

Top of the Agenda

Envoys from Russia, Ukraine, and the United States are meeting today in Abu Dhabi for the first known trilateral talks since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters yesterday that he believed both sides “want to make a deal.” He met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Davos, who said security guarantees for Ukraine had been finalized but matters of territorial control remained unresolved. Last night, U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner had a lengthy meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, who similarly said the possibility of a long-term settlement depended on territorial agreements.  

Who’s in the room. Russia’s delegation in Abu Dhabi today is led by top intelligence official Admiral Igor Olegovich Kostyukov. Ukraine’s includes top negotiator Rustem Umerov, deputy head of Zelenskyy’s office Kyrylo Budanov, and Andrii Hnatov, chief of general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces. Witkoff and Kushner are also expected to be in Abu Dhabi today, TASS reported. Although it was not immediately clear whether they would take part in the trilateral talks, Witkoff will participate in a separate U.S.-Russia economic dialogue while there. 

Where the conflict stands. Battle lines have not shifted much in recent months. Russia has carried out attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, leaving many Ukrainians without heat during the harsh winter. Ukraine’s government declared a state of emergency related to the energy crisis last week. Europe continued to announce new military assistance to Ukraine last year, while the United States slowed the pace of those pledges. Zelenskyy argued in a speech in Davos yesterday that Europe and Ukraine’s destinies were interconnected, calling for greater European unity and military strength. 

“Nearly four years of brutal combat, in which neither side has achieved a strategic breakthrough, has created a paradoxical situation in which both countries lose the longer the war rages on. The best deal each side can achieve is available now, not in six months or later.”

—CFR expert Thomas Graham, Foreign Affairs

Across the Globe

The deal to reshape TikTok. TikTok reached a deal to avoid a ban by divesting the ownership of its U.S. operation to a new joint venture controlled by non-Chinese investors, the company said in a memo yesterday. The venture will oversee data for U.S. users as well as TikTok’s algorithm, while Beijing-based ByteDance will continue to manage functions such as ecommerce and advertising. Trump celebrated the agreement on social media, calling it “final” and writing that Chinese President Xi Jinping had approved it.

U.S. forces near Iran. The United States is deploying “an armada” of warships near Iran “just in case” Iran’s response to protests becomes untenable, Trump told reporters yesterday. At the same time, he voiced an openness to talk to the Iranian government. Iran’s foreign minister has similarly expressed willingness for dialogue with the United States but said the country is ready for war in the event of U.S. military action.

Green energy in Europe. For the first time ever, more electricity in the European Union (EU) was generated from wind and solar power than from fossil fuels in 2025, analyst group Ember said in a new report yesterday. The lead analyst called the threshold a “major tipping point” and a boon for EU energy independence. Gas generation in the bloc rose by 8 percent last year, the report said, but gas is still in “long-term decline” and below its most recent 2019 peak.

Transition turmoil in Haiti. The United Nations special envoy for Haiti said that a UN-approved international force of more than five thousand troops should reach full strength by this summer. His announcement came amid reported infighting in the country’s transitional leadership council, whose mandate expires early next month. The United States, Canada, and the United Nations all issued statements of concern about internal discord among the council. 

South China Sea talks. China and the Philippines are in negotiations to advance a long-delayed code of conduct for the South China Sea, both sides said this week. The two countries have territorial disputes and frequent maritime standoffs in the region. The Philippines’ foreign minister said yesterday that Manila aims to complete the code by the end of this year.

UN role in Syria. The United Nations is assuming responsibility for large refugee and detention camps in northeast Syria that were previously guarded by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a senior UN official said yesterday. The SDF retreated from the area this week amid an armed offensive by Syria’s government, which aims to integrate SDF forces into its own.

Canada-U.S. tensions. Trump announced yesterday that he was rescinding his invitation to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney to join his so-called Board of Peace, which will oversee the next phase of the Gaza ceasefire. While Trump did not provide a justification, the move came after Carney gave a speech in Davos pledging more foreign policy independence from the United States. Trump described the speech as ungrateful.

New envoy to Venezuela. Laura Dogu, a former advisor to the Joint Chiefs of Staff and a career diplomat, will be the new top U.S. envoy to the country, the U.S. Embassy in Venezuela announced yesterday. She will be based in Bogotá, Colombia. Dogu has also served as U.S. ambassador in Honduras and Nicaragua. 

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